Once again, there was a long silence.
“But still.”
Sara spoke in a powerless voice.
“It doesn’t change that I messed up.”
“……Why do you think that?”
It couldn’t possibly be a mistake. How many people could believe a mother would have such feelings towards her daughter?
Especially since Sara was the one involved. She had thought of that person as just her mother since childhood, so it was even more impossible for her to think otherwise.
“You put me in danger.”
But then, trying to comfort Sara, I lost my words at her statement.
“Everything I’ve done was for you. That’s what I thought. If there was something you couldn’t handle, I would solve all of it, and then just hand it back to you.”
“……”
“So I dealt with everyone who wronged me, and with Mother too… ”
“……”
All for me.
Sara acted that way just for my sake.
I thought she was just trying to find a reason to live for herself.
“I’m sorry.”
Sara apologized to me like that.
“I’m sorry. In the end, I pushed everything onto you again.”
“……”
Hearing her words, countless emotions stirred inside my heart.
The first feeling I felt was embarrassment.
Sara’s actions were so warm, and I was so embarrassed that I hadn’t noticed her feelings at all.
Then came sadness.
It seemed like Sara still couldn’t let go of her own life, and no matter how much I tried, it felt like there was nothing I could do.
And lastly, there was anger.
Anger at the world that had made Sara like this. And anger at myself for not actually knowing her thoughts, while pretending I understood her just because I had read a bit of her memories.
That anger was directed at me.
“……”
But I couldn’t explode those feelings in front of Sara. I thought I shouldn’t show her the emotions that arose because of my mistakes.
“……No.”
I suppressed my anger and spoke.
“It’s not your fault. You don’t need to apologize.”
“But……”
“No.”
Yet no matter how much I tried to hide my emotions, in the end, they bubbled over in the way I spoke.
“It’s not your fault.”
“……”
“The one who did wrong was that person.”
I recalled Choi Na-kyung.
“Is getting kidnapped wrong? No, it’s not. You should blame the person who kidnapped you. Saying that it’s wrong because you couldn’t protect yourself is nonsense. The blame should go to the one who did wrong, not the victim.”
“……”
Sara simply listened to my words.
“And, even though you were in that situation, I was completely clueless. I didn’t even know what kind of person Choi Na-kyung was, and I let you be alone with that person. I could have helped but didn’t. So the one who did wrong is me.”
“No.”
Sara countered my words.
While I was talking, she lifted her head from her knees.
The area around her eyes was damp. It looked like she had been crying just moments ago. Her eyes were red and bloodshot.
However, Sara glared at me as if that trace was a lie.
“You were inside me back then. It was my fault for not bringing you out. If it were you, you would have properly warned me about that person. You wouldn’t have recklessly acted out of excessive confidence like I did.”
“That’s something I can’t know because I wasn’t there. I could have been kidnapped like you. The real me was so terrified when I saw Choi Na-kyung that I couldn’t do anything.”
“No,”
Sara’s brows furrowed as if she was frustrated.
“That’s all because I blocked information from you. If I had kept telling you, you would have grasped the situation properly.”
“……”
“I… I…”
Sara lowered her head for a moment, then seemed to gather her thoughts, took a deep breath, and lifted her head.
Then she slightly turned her body toward me, looking directly at me, and said,
“I have a lot of things I’ve hidden from you. Especially in recent times, when I had control of my body, I only told you good stories—”
“I know.”
“—So…… huh?”
I interrupted Sara mid-sentence, and her expression turned momentarily blank.
“The reason you went out as the representative of the body was to sort out personal issues. Even if the stories about school friends and teachers don’t come up, changes regarding Yang Hye-in, whom I was worried about, would have happened.”
“Uh, uhhh…”
At my words, Sara nodded.
“But you didn’t mention any of those things. So, of course, I would assume you only picked happy stories.”
Of course, I wasn’t completely certain. I was just making an assumption in the corner of my mind.
But I didn’t want to blame Sara. Kids generally don’t talk much about difficult things in front of their parents.
Whether it was out of shame or just not wanting to worry them. Maybe it was pride that made them want to handle everything on their own.
No matter the reason, it was naturally the fault of the listener for not properly understanding those attitudes in children.
“……”
It seemed like Sara didn’t think so.
Sara buried her face back in her knees.
“……”
Another silence.
“So, it’s okay.”
“……”
“In the end, everything ended well. You were rescued, and Choi Na-kyung ran away. No one knows what will happen next, but at least the bad things are already behind us.”
“……”
“Sara.”
I slightly lifted my body. Then I crawled from beside Sara to directly in front of her.
Now we were facing each other.
Sara, hugging her knees, and me, kneeling in front, leaning on the bed.
If Sara lifted her head, our faces would be very close, but I didn’t care. I had something to say to her right now.
“You’ve been anxious all this time, right?”
“……”
“Even though I said I would be with you, your expression has always looked like that.”
In reality, I believed that it was impossible to stay with Sara forever and that I had to return her life entirely to her.
… But my mind changed.
I had become someone very important to Sara at this moment.
Not just a friend, who slowly becomes distant over time, making it hard to even see each other’s faces, but as family to Sara.
Not lost parents. Not the ‘mother’ who looked at her with lustful eyes—
Hmm, what should I say?
Brother? Sister?
It doesn’t matter at all. Whatever relationship Sara thinks is fine.
In fact, now that I’ve lost my original body, what does gender matter?
What was important was Sara.
Somehow, I had dug too deep, and I had become an incredibly important existence to Sara.
Climbing back through my memories, I thought countless times of Sara pleading with me not to leave.
I don’t even remember those days well, but I knew how significant they were to her.
So.
So… well, I guess I have to take responsibility now.
Enough running away.
“Sara.”
I softly called out to Sara.
“From now on, I won’t make that expression anymore.”
At my words, Sara’s shoulders flinched.
“I will stay with you.”
“……Huh?”
At my words, Sara suddenly looked startled and lifted her head.
The tears that had just fallen seemed to be of no concern to her, as Sara wore a surprised expression.
Thank goodness. Her shocked face made me feel like the sadness had flown away.
“I’ll be with you for as long as you want.”
Even if she tells me to leave now, I won’t. I will persistently linger by Sara’s side and ask if she really doesn’t need me anymore.
Of course, since she was the one who said that.
The very essence of family is something that, even if you want it to stop, becomes sad when it’s far away.
“I’ll be here with you for a lifetime, like you said.”
“Uh, uh?”
Sara gaped in disbelief.
I gently placed my hand on her head and petted her slightly.
“How is it? My expression right now? Are you still anxious looking at it?”
I smiled brightly at Sara.
Now I was certain. My expression probably had no shadows.
I decided to push aside the worries I had.
I don’t know the reason why I ended up in this body. I don’t understand the principles.
But, if—just if—there’s a reason for this not being a coincidence.
Then it’s probably for something like this.
“So don’t blame yourself anymore. Don’t try to solve everything on your own. Let’s keep moving forward together.”
“…That’s unfair.”
Sara said as if sulking.
“If you say that, I can’t refuse.”
As I continued to smile brightly, Sara seemed to become more furious.
SLAP!
The sound echoed as Sara pinched my cheeks with both hands.
“Wh-what?!”
At Sara’s sudden action, I instinctively blurted that out.
“……Since you said that, I really won’t let go now. Even if you beg me to let go, I won’t. If you try to leave, I’ll follow you and drag you back.”
Sara said, glaring at me with burning eyes.
“Wait, Sara.”
Sara’s grip tightened. Although it wasn’t enough to squash my face, my cheeks were pressed together, and I must have looked like a bloated fish.
Moreover, Sara was pulling her hands closer to herself.
Naturally, my face, which was already trapped, was getting closer and closer to hers.
Whoa, wait a minute, that’s way too close…?
“I told you.”
Sara said, right in front of my face.
“I said I won’t let go, didn’t I?”
And then, without hesitation, she pressed her lips against mine.
“……”
Time seemed to have stopped forever.
…At least, that’s what I thought at that moment.
And at the end of that eternal moment, Sara pulled her soft lips away from mine and said,
“If you came to rescue me, make sure to stick it out to the end.”
“……”
To me, who was blankly staring at myself,
“My little vampire.”
……
……Honestly, it was a bit cringey to say.
